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Leica Lens Buying Guide

Why did I get into Leica Lenses?

This is a very personal journey for me. If this is your first time to the site, you’ll see I only actually review stuff that I use on a regular basis. Life’s too short, otherwise. So you won’t see hundreds of different Leica lenses here, so the mega Leica nerds will be sad… You’ll just see what I consider the best (with several pricing options).

I got into Leica lenses because I bought one of the Sony a7 cameras. The Sony a7 series of cameras offer a full-frame sensor which can be coupled with lenses from most any manufacturer. Leica has a long tradition of quality — EXTREME quality. Leica lenses come in many flavors, and many of them are nice and small to fit with your new (or potential new?) mirrorless lifestyle. To read more about the latest version of this particular camera, see my Sony a7R III Review. One of the great features of that camera is the in body image stabilization which really enhances the whole experience.

The purpose of this Leica Lens Buying Guide

I put together this guide to help people figure out how to get started with this powerful combination and to give advice on which lenses to get. Leica lenses have recently been a whole new world for me, and as I go through the process of figuring all this out, I wanted to share it with you!

I’m the first to admit that I am relatively new to Leica lenses, and others have much more knowledge than me. So, if you have advice or ideas (or maybe see where I am wrong!!), please leave your thoughts down in the comments. I’ll do my best to work them into this guide. I see this as a “living” document, which will grow and change as I continue to experiment.

Quick Sample Photos to get you in the mood

This photo of the Berber man might be worth clicking on and zooming into… The sweet sweet Leica M 50mm at f/1.4. Remember that you can click on these photos to zoom in and see all the details. It’s recommended on this one in particular!

Leica M 24mm f/1.4. Perfect for night shots, and, well many other things! More photos from this lens and many others below!

This was taken here near my home in Queenstown, New Zealand. I used the Sony A7r and the Leica 35mm f/1.4 lens (but shot this at f/8)

A small collection of my favorite Leica Lens shots

Leica Lenses – a Primer

Leica Lenses have many mount types, but I am going to keep it simple for my recommendations:

M Mount – These full-frame lenses are small and amazing. These tend to be more expensive of the two.

R Mount – Also full-frame, these lenses tend to be a bit bigger but are also more inexpensive.

Adapter

One of the great things about the Sony A7 is you get to use adapters to fit any kind of lens. I’ll keep this simple for these two Leica Mounts.

M Mount Adapter – Get this Novoflex M Leica Adaptor (Amazon | B&H Photo) – Fantastic for attaching any lens that uses the M Leica lens mount. This is what I use.

R Mount Adapter – Get this Novoflex R Leica Adaptor (Amazon | B&H Photo) – If you choose to get some of the R Mount lenses too.

How much to spend?

For Leica lenses, you can plan on spending from $400 to $12,000. Actually I should not have said $12,000. That was kind of a random number because these Leica lenses can get a heck of a lot more expensive. But, if buying something new, then that more or less defines the upper limit. This is all just to give you a general idea that you don’t HAVE to spend $10,000+ to get Leica lenses!

Remember that the “R Mount” lenses can be much cheaper, even though there are more expensive and rare variants. You can see more below.

Top 4 Leica M lenses

I hate to mention specific F-stops here because the price varies so much! The lower the F-Stop, the higher the price. Often, a lot higher! So, if you’re trying to save money, there’s no reason to get the f/1.4. There are many places to buy Leica Lenses, but I’ve chosen to link to Amazon and B&H below.

First video on Leica Lenses

Here’s the first video I made when I was Leica-curious. It features Leica shooter Stu Robertson!

More Sample Photos!

On this road to my home in New Zealand, I took this with the 24mm f/1.4 lens.

Great for low-light photography. Here is a fisherman from Southern China. Also shot with the 24mm at f/1.4.

This was shot with the Leica 24mm f/1.4 lens.

This was taken with the Leica 50mm f/1.4. When you point it into the sun, you get the most amazing lens flares through the glass element. So fun! And it’s nice to see exactly what you are going to get. The actual scene was so bright, that I think an optical system would have blinded me! Since I was able to see a digital version, it made it much easier on the eye so I could actually compose the shot.

Here is a rather unusual photo of my friend Stu with my new friend Bob.

This 35mm at f/1.4 is amazing for night photography. No flash needed to get clean shots!

Speaking of Peace in 10,000 Hands, here I am back at Stu’s studio, taking a photo of some of his work in his gallery for the project. We also filmed a little video about how to use the Sony A7r with Leica lenses.

Here’s a lovely little schoolhouse in St. Bathans under stormy skies in the evening.

Here’s a good example of the Leica 24mm lens at f/1.4. I’m very excited to play with all these new lenses with this amazing body (the camera, not mine haha).

The shallow depth of field at f/1.4 really is amazing.. and the background is so buttery!

The focus-peaking on the Sony A7r allowed me to use the 50mm lens to find the exact spot where I wanted to focus.

And here’s my mate Stu with the 24mm f/1.4 talking to Management to check on the progress of Peace in 10,000 Hands.

Here is the Leica 50mm lens in its full f/1.4 glory.

Here’s a shot of my son on his first day of high school. I love the depth of field that a full-frame sensor provides.

I went for a walk along this fence in the late afternoon as a storm was coming in. I had a little friend with me. Say hello to my little friend. 🙂

Here’s a wonderfully bizarre photo I took at St. Bathans with the Leica 24mm lens.

Here’s one from Tokyo. I love how the out-of-focus area feels so soft, and, well, full-framey!

I stepped out from behind a small Bed & Breakfast I was staying at in Central Otago called Coombs cottage and saw this painted sky scene unfolding before me. This was shot at ISO100, shutter 1/500, 24mm. Actually, I’m not going to list out all the EXIF info in the future because you can just click through to my SmugMug Site to see all the details. If you click the little “i” it will tell you everything. 🙂

Well, thanks for that buying guide. It really make me want to ditch my Canon 5d Mk II and hop in this Sony – Leica bandwagon. I noticed that your widest Leica lens is a 24mm (from your suggestions), do you use other brands to get wider dramatic shots? I just bought the cheap and crispy Samyang 14mm F2.8 and would love an equivalent on the Sony mount. Was wondering if Leica did a lens like that.

treyratcliff

I haven’t tried other brands yet, but will soon

Micky

Trey, does the Summilux 35mm f/1.4 ASPH FLE (the new one) work on the A7r? I’d love to know before I blow like £3500 on what I’m terrified could end up a paperweight. Thanks.

treyratcliff

Absolutely – that’s what I use! 🙂 You do need that novoflex adapter I put above @Micky

Mikey

Oh I really wish you hadn’t said that!

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Micky

Frederick, you can use your Samyang 14mm on the A7r, no problem at all. You will need an adapter. Either a Novoflex or better yet Rayqual Kindai. Or just try a cheapy adapter and see if that works. I use Novoflex but recently ordered a Rayqual because they use baffles in their adapter design which improves light transmission and reduces internal flare/artifacts.

Raziar

First of all ,thanks for this great guide , the images are amazing . Made me even more interested in buying a Leica lens.

I really want to know , what do you think about the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 FE lens , and how it compares with some of the Leica 50 mm

Great, great, great! Wonderful information about how to spend more on lenses…. Add tri elmar 16-18-21 to list. Also Trey, just got my Phigment Tech adapter! No vignetting on the 35 or wate and auto magnification works. Reads data in camera. Still have to manually switch aperture on lens then match with wheel. Way better than f– and focal length blank. Super excited all the time about this system and adding Leica!

Nate Wolfe

This is a fairly random question but I’ve been following your page for months now. I also made the switch to Sony from Nikon, largely guided by yourself and couldn’t be happier. I have to ask though, you’re top photo, of the man with the blue turban(?), how did you get that so incredibly sharp? I have yet to get a portrait that sharp!

haha – well the Leica lens helped; but I also did a bit of sharpening using MacPhun Intensify – I have a review here on the site!

Nate Wolfe

I just read your review and it seems like an amazing program! Sadly I have a PC haha. Maybe one day I’ll have to give it a shot. Even my sharpening in Lightroom doesn’t compare and I use the A6000 with a Contax G lens.

Bjarni

Sharpening? Why in the world would you like to sharpen a photo taken with a Leica lens? I’m a full blooded Leica shooter myself, and have never felt any needs to sharpen images from my Summicrons.

namredlawt

I am a big fan of Leica lenses and I have used them on my A7r. I have to say that no matter how wonderful m-mount lenses are on the A7r, it really is not a great use of these lenses. The vignetting and color smearing is just a shame. Yes the vignettes and soft edges do add character. Its just not reasonable to underuse the sensor and treat Leica glass like a toy lens. If you wish to post process extensively, might as well use a lens that is sharp across the frame. if you want to pick one lens to use with the A7r to replace as much of the workflow that a 36MP sensor in your palm represents, get a FE55.

I actually prefer the Leica lenses on a crop sensor more than on sony FF. If you enjoy legacy lenses as I do, use a NEX 7, A6000 or an A7 or A7s.

Also, the M-rokkor lenses do a great job and can compete with Leica legacy glass. There is no question that Leica lenses do a great job however I would not buy them just to use them on a A7. Voigtlander and M-Rokkors are great and can do a great job and don’t cost so much. the CV 40 f2.8 healer is wonderful. Compact and contrasty. the CV 40 Nokton SC or MC is a great buy too.

The A7 series is really a small DSLR form factor. there are plenty of excellent legacy lenses that do a great job without the cost or artifacts. FD lenses, Minolta, EF, Nikkor… all do great with a solid adapter.

My Leica glass is looking forward to a FF rangefinder form factor from Sony. Preferably with in camera IS and a curved sensor that doesn’t vignette or smear. Make it18MP with the A7s’s high ISO performance and I will sell my Leicas in a heartbeat. But I will keep the glass.

LightTraveler

Samyang makes e-mount lenses hence no need for an adapter. Their cine lenses work great on a7x cams for both stills and video

QQ

I’d just like to say that my fiance and I are going on a 8 day trip to South Island (Queenstown/Wanaka, Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook), and we’ve booked a day taking engagement photos in Wanaka. Your photos are getting me so excited!! I really enjoyed your blog, thank you!

scottygraham

Hey Trey…I also have a love affair with Leica glass (an expensive affair, for sure). I started buying Leica glass with my Leica camera, and I do find they are just as good on the Sony as long as you don’t go wider than 24mm. My 18mm (Super Elmar), for example, is terrible on the Sony, but awesome on my Leica (M9).

I would also recommend the Voightlander Close-up Adapter (instead of the Novaflex) when using Leica glass on the Sony. The VL adapter will cut your minimum focus distance in half….and that is a good thing because the minimum focus distance on most Leica lenses is about a meter.

When I travel, I bring the Sony with the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 135mm, and use my Leica with the 18mm …the PERFECT traveling kit, and can get just about any shot I want with this kit.

Just curious, how do you find the Sony/Zeiss lenses compare to the Leica lenses?

Oldane

I too use Leica glass on my A7S. In fact older lenses which has been idle for the last 15 years after I switched to digital with Nikon DSLR gear. But with the A7S they have been dusted off once more. So I’d like to share my experiences with those older Leica lenses on the A7S. I use a Novoflex adapter for them which works very good.

My experience is that 35mm is the widest I can use without color shift and vignetting in the perphery of the frame. I think one can see that color shift in your 24mm pictures too. One can use Cornerfix to clean up the WA pictures but it’s not 100% consistent – and it’s extra PP steps to go through. So I gave in, put my 21mm Elmarit back in the closet and bought a Sony/Zeiss 16-35mm f/4. It’s optically very good even wide open, but it’s also bulky and unbalanced on the camera when carried on the neck strap..It’s not a pleasure to carry the camera with it around the neck for long stretches of time. I look forward to see what Zeiss comes up with with their announced WA Loxia later this year – hopefully something light and compact. A 24mm/2.8 would be perfect.

The Leica lenses I use are a 35/2.0 Summicron v4 (I also have an old non-asph. 35/1.4 but the Summicron is a tad better and focuses closer), a 50/2.0 non-asph. Summicron (last version), a 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M (I also have a 90/2.0 Summicron non-asph.which has better bokeh but the Tele-Elmarit is much smaller and lighter for travel use). And then I have a 135/4 Tele-Elmar (second version). It’s stellar. It’s close to apochromatic though it was never advertised as such. The Summicron 50, theTele-elmarit 90 and the Tele Elmar 135 can be had for reasonable sums. The WA lenses including the 35mm’s has a quite high price these days. I’m, glad I bought them all many years ago.

Apart from the excellent performance, I love the small size and low weight. As the years have passed and I have grew older (I’m 63), the Nikon gear felt heavier and heavier in the bag, and I have more and more longed back to my Leica days. I’m now there once more with the A7S. I can carry all I need in a small Billingham Hadley Small bag. If it has to be really small and compact, I can do all right with a 35mm on the camera and the 90mm Tele-Elmarit in a pocket – the classic combo for us old time Leica shooters.

Rob

I wonder if any of you well informed folks could help this newbie out?I am thinking of purchased of Leica 350mm f/4.8 Telegt-r mount for my sony A7ii. Do you think it smart or would the sony 70-400 make more sense
.I have a limited budget to work with.

Joseph Li

Hallo good morning all.
I would like to know whether the Sony body could read the aperture setting on the Leica lenses? If not, how to set the aperture on the lenses? Thank you all in advance! BTW, I do not have any Sony bodies so far, but will have one to go digital with all my R lenses.

No, the Sony does not know the Aperture… you have to set it manually on the lens.

Joseph Li

Thank you. I got it. But can the body automatically adjust the ISO and shutter speed? I usually use the aperture priority.

Ben Decker

Yes the Sony can auto ISO/Shutter speed running the camera in Aperture priority will let you control the Leica Lens.
Leica lenses for M don’t send any aperture information to any camera body, Leica bodies use an educated guess (which can be close…bang on, or way off) to set up the eXIF data for aperture.

Ben Decker

I use an A7s for landscapes and M240p for everything else.
I agree with everything you’ve said here.

Ben Decker

The Voigtlander 35/1,2/MII is great, also with a hawkfactory close adapter (or their own for thrice the price) I think you might like it.

Mikko Honkalampi

Nice text but do you how does the 50mm f0,95 perform on a FF A7-series camera? I can believe the bokeh is insane and DOF minimal but does it vignete or color shift?

Keir Briscoe

Hi, your link for the Novoflex R adapter for B&H actually takes you to amazon as well.

With Leica R discontinued, what would the next best “budget” option be?

jan szewczyk

What do you mean that 18mm looks terrible on the Sony. I think about start buying Leica R lenses but more for video camera

scottygraham

Hey Jan….I shouldn’t have said, “Terrible”. It is actually “not bad” on the Sony A7r…it is outstanding on the new Sony A7Rll, though. There is some CA when used on the A7R…but it is easily removed in post. I wrote this comment 10 months ago, and since then, I have used the 18mm on both the A7R and the A7Rll, and have been happy…so ignore my previous comment about the 18mm??

Having said that, I have recently bought a couple of Sony/Zeiss lenses, and tend to use them way more than my Leica glass….they are much larger, but the auto focus and quality of the glass is superb. In my opinion every bit as good as the Leica glass if not better. Cheers!!

jan szewczyk

I can’t wait for a 35mm 2.0 with autofocus and in size of loxia lenses;)

Philippe Voisin

Hi everybody, I have read all comments regarding Leica on Sony A7, and was wondering if any of you have experience with the 16-18-21 mm Tri Elmar on A7RII …?
I have an old Canon 16-35 mm, not really good on edges and corners to satisfy the 42 megapixels and I would like to buy a nice wide angle to complete my 35 and 50 mm f1,4 Summilux.
Seems the 16-35 mm f4 is a good lense, the WATE an excellent one, but on the field experience and feed back would be very much appreciated !

mainly video a7s sony and sometimes photo with a7r II sony, I would like to know if these models, are no so far to leica quality M lenses

Stu – SIC

My limited experience with them is that there is a difference in quality (or character). Its not a huge difference though, just a case of how much do you value those extra few percent of quality. When it comes down to it, Leica don’t tend to make bad lenses and they hold their value. So buying that bundle could be a good move. You keep the ones you like, sell the ones you don’t. 😀

A good article for Leica beginners like me. I’m planning to buy mirrorles Sony but first I have to save money 🙂

Bill Green

A few years ago I bought a Lumix DMC-FZ30PP camera simply because it had a Leica lens. I have not been disappointed! My dad was a professional photographer who won many state and national awards for his portrait photography during the 1930’s and 40’s. I remember him telling me that Leica made the finest lenses available. While I realize that there are now many fine lenses on the market, his personal endorsement was enough to sway my choice.

John

Which adapter do you use? Considering buying the 35mm F2 to use on my Sony a6500.

john webb

What is your opinion now with the introduction of the Sony a6500 and Leica glass?

john webb

Trey, great article and love your work and vision. I have a Sony a6500 and considering a Leica 35mm Summicron, what do you think?

Stu – SIC

Trey says its an awesome choice. 🙂

Mohamed

What lens mount do you recommend to buy to it on both leica and sony, a lens with M or E mount?

Stu – SIC

You’ll be buying an E-Mount to M-Mount adapter for the Sony A7 series cameras and then buying M-Mount lenses. The links to the adapters are in the article so that should keep you right 🙂